Thursday, September 3, 2009

Disney Hits the Bullseye with Marvel

GET IT!?!?!

Because both characters are named Bullseye, see... And Marvel and Disney...
Well maybe it isn't as clever as That's so Kraven, but dag nabbit, we tried our best.

Anyways, I should probably clarify things. That last blog was a joke in every way. Disney is not reviving Beauty and the Beast on Broadway in the near future, there's no word on an X-Men 4, and I most certainly do not have a girlfriend.

Though I am not entirely against the idea. Well, ladies?

Is anyone still there?


Seriously though, on Monday, 8/31/09, Disney bought Marvel comics. Trust me, this is a big deal. I'll explain as both companies had a big part in shaping who I am. Both companies have a history built upon creativity and strong character development. That being said, they are both very different companies. Marvel has a universe of super-heroes and villains that are known as the darker and edgier caped crusaders (as opposed to the wholesome DC characters like Superman and Wonder Woman. And Batman in the 50s I guess). Meanwhile Disney introduced children to wholesome cartoon characters such as Mickey Mouse and Goofy (as opposed to the darker and edgier Warner Bros. characters such as Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck). By the way Warner Bros. has owned DC comics for years. It's kind of funny to see how mismatched these things worked out.

Reading the comments on various message boards related to all sorts of geekery that I browse, I've come to realize that the internet has a lot of idiots making comments about things they know nothing about. That's right, the guy who just made up the word "geekery" is calling other people idiots. Now that's bad.

For instance, one message board commenter had this to say "If they stop making films based on the characters, I will be very disappointed >.>" Seriously? Have you no understanding on business practices? Disney bought Marvel because they are pleased with what Marvel has been doing so far, especially with their movies based on their Super Heroes. They want to profit off of this success. They aren't going to jump in and say "Okay nice work Marvel now we are canceling your movie line up. We just plain don't want any more money."

Oh here's another beauty: "I'm ••••ed off because this is the way I see it
Disney=The New 4Kids
Disney is a "kid friendly" company
and will do whatever they need to Marvel Super Heroes to keep that Rep"

I know exactly what this guy means! Like remember when Disney bought Miramax in 1993? Ever since then Miramax has been forced to make such "kid friendly" movies like Pulp Fiction, Gangs of New York, and No Country for Old Men. Oh and I can't forget the Kill Bill movies. That one brings such joy to the children when they watch it.

I could go on this rant for hours. The morons plaguing the internet give me plenty of material (and I them, I'm sure). But let me tell you why this is great. Marvel needs this. For one, comic books are kind of a dying thing. There is little money in it, so it's hard to maintain a company founded and based upon it. The success over movies based on their characters have been a huge source of profit for Marvel over the past decade, and that's what Disney sees. The problem is Marvel's relatively new production studios bit off a little more then they could chew financially with their upcoming Avengers movie. You see they have these great movies like Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk with these big name actors as their leads. With the infamous Samuel Jackson scene at the end of Iron Man fans realized what Marvel was planning to do. They wanted to make a movie in which all of these characters meet and make a super team- The Avengers. The trouble with such a plan is that bringing all these big name actors together in a huge, action packed blockbuster is going to cost some serious cash. Cash Marvel doesn't have. Or didn't, I should say. Disney may prove to back some much needed financing for Marvel to see their dream come true.

Of course we should look at what Disney's gaining from all this as well. Money, of course. Marvel is rich with properties that people absolutely love (Spider-Man, the X-Men, and Howard the Duck to name a few). Disney isn't going to change the image we have in our minds of Marvel today.

"The intention is not to rebrand Marvel [as] Disney, in fact the opposite - to really emphasize the Marvel brand and to use Marvel where we can on Disney platforms and in Disney places to grow both businesses."-Bob Iger (http://comics.ign.com/articles/101/1019830p1.html)

There is one thing I really hope comes from this. For years (possibly even decades) Disney has had little success in the comic book industry. They've tried and tried. Characters like Donald and Mickey and Uncle Scrooge used to pop up in comic strips all the time, but for some reason Disney can't break back into that realm. Hopefully with Marvel's help they can fix this problem (mainly because I really want to see a successful Gargoyles comic, to tell the truth).

On a side note: Was anyone as surprised as I was to find out Disney actually had $4 billion to spend? I mean I know they're huge and all, but it was news to me.

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